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THE BEST ALBUMS I HEARD IN 2013

I like to feel melancholic sometimes when listening to music, and former Coral guitarist Bill Ryder-Jones album was an absolute beauty in that regard. Just when I thought the year was finishing on a quiet note, I managed to listen to the new Eleanor Friedberger solo release, the North Mississippi Allstars rip roaring blues and one of my favourite songwriters, Brendan Benson and his new album.

This was also the year of comebacks, with Arctic Monkeys, Kings of Leon and Deer Tick hitting it strong. All in all, a good year, and hopefully more of the same next year.

And if I had to go for a top three? Probably Vampire Weekend at one, Phosphorescent at two and Matthew E White at three.

Our list of favorites from 2013 don’t have much crossover (Brendan Benson would’ve made my list but I got it late in the year & didn’t hear it enough before I put the list together), but based on other reviews I’ve read about some of your choices, it looks like I have a few more things to check out in 2014. I also want to give you credit for naming this post “The Best Albums I Heard In 2013” as opposed to “The Best Albums Of 2013.” So many magazine reviewers & bloggers present their lists as though they’ve heard every album released that year, and they’ve narrowed them down to the cream of the crop. Seems like you have a similar approach to mine: “I listened to a lot of music in this particular year & these are my favorites.” I often say that I hope to live until I’m 200 just to hear a larger fraction of the music I’d like to be exposed to (assuming my hearing holds up). I tend to get about 250-300 new albums a year, in addition to all the albums I revisit for my blog, and I always feel like I’m just scratching the surface.

This was my long-winded way of saying: Nice list, even though I’m only vaguely familiar with most of these albums.